Born in Hong Kong, where he also prayed with young Chinese “both from the official and underground Churches”, the prior frère Alois recalled the bond between Taizé and Montini

Paul VI in the concluding phase of the Second Vatican Council

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Pubblicato il
02/10/2018

MARCO RONCALLI

BRESCIA

Brief, but intense, at times very moving, yesterday’s testimony dedicated to Paul VI by frère Alois, at the end of the vigil of prayer in the cathedral of Brescia, where the prior of the ecumenical community on the hills of Burgundy, has returned more than half a century after the visit made by his predecessor frère Roger. Alongside a large image of Pope Montini portrayed with a smile, his joyful eyes, wrapped in Caravaggio light (”I would like, at the end, to be in the light” Paul VI wrote in “Thought of Death”, as recalled by the bishop of Brescia Pierantonio Tremolada - present during the vigil), frère Alois offered some insights on the relationship between the Brescian Pope and the founder of Taizé. And not only.

“Frère Roger had known Paul VI from when he was the young Monsignor Montini, substitute for the Secretariat of State, with whom he had prepared his two audiences with Pius XII. Later he went to see him in Milan. Yet, discovering in Brescia the places of his youth, his spiritual and human environment, had allowed frère Roger to better grasp the Pope’s personality”, frère Alois immediately recalled, who stopped at the presence of frère Roger at the “Oratory of Peace” - a very important place for the formation of the future Pope - in October 1964, during the Second Vatican Council: “The Pope’s brother, Ludovico Montini, was in Brescia that day. At the end of frère Roger’s conference at the Oratory of Peace, Ludovico had publicly declared that during Fascism it was in this Oratory that the Montini brothers had formed their courage with men who remained friends of the Pope. Brother Roger had therefore known some of those men to whom he would later remain closed to, among them, Bishop Manziana, the future Cardinal Bevilacqua”.

“It would take me such a long time to tell you all the stories that frère Roger had about Paul VI”, Alois continued. “I could tell how during the Council a Vatican man one day brought a box of apples and a box of pears to our Roman house, because the Pope had known that the brothers of Taizé invited bishops to all the meals and wanted to contribute”. And again “I could say how, later, Paul VI invited frère Roger to accompany him to Bogotá”. Or “about when, alerted by French politicians about the fate of the Secretary General of the Chilean Communist Party during the dictatorship, frère Roger telephoned the Vatican and the Pope agreed to intervene that same night so that the man would not be put to death”.

Then his reflection shifted to the relationship between Paul VI and Brother Roger with regard to young people. “They often spoke of it together. Frère Roger was struck by the speech, that very great speech, that Paul VI had delivered at the close of the Second Vatican Council. The Holy Father had said that the Council devoted its attention “principally to the Church, her and composition, her ecumenical vocation, her apostolic and missionary activity”, but that it also “devoted principally its attention to man”. The Pope had also used these words: if “to know man, one must know God”, “we can also state: to know God, one must know man”. Then the Pope said words that Brother Roger will often quote: “man sacred because of the innocence of his childhood, because of the mystery of his poverty... We remember how in the face of every man, especially if made transparent by his tears and his pains, we can and must recognize the face of Christ”. This suffering man, near or far from us, known or unknown: frère Roger will always invite young people to be in solidarity with him.

And, after underlining Pope Montini’s special care for ecumenical research, as well as to the growing commitment to welcoming young people, he quoted an episode. “One day, the Holy Father asked frère Roger: “If you have the key to communicate the faith to the young, tell me! Frère Roger replied: “I would like to have that key, but I will never have it. In Taizé we do not have a method for transmitting the faith”...”. Participating in the great Council Assembly, even as an observer, had really struck the founder of Taizé, “Frère Roger, had noticed how much the prolonged meeting of men from all continents to reflect together on the future of the Church had opened hearts and broadened minds. A few years later, seeing the difficulties of young people in relation to faith, he wondered how to allow young people to have a similar experience and had the idea of launching a youth council. Before announcing it publicly, he wanted to consult the Pope who replied: “Put it on track”. I am happy to remember here that generosity of Paul VI because he allowed a period of research at Taizé that involved young people from every continent”.

A search that we know continues today. Yes, the Council of Young People was replaced by what Brother Roger decided to call a pilgrimage of trust across the earth, but it is the same aspiration to provoke reconciliation in the Church, to work for peace, for the most vulnerable. Commitments reiterated during our European meetings, but also on other occasions, and in other continents. Before concluding his testimony, in the cathedral in Brescia, frère Alois said: “A few weeks ago, with a dozen of my brothers, we were in Hong Kong for a meeting that gathered 2,500 young people. The great diversity of Asia was there, from India to Japan, through Bangladesh, Myanmar, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia and many other countries. The most impressive thing was the large number of young people from mainland China. Some had never left their province and yet travelled thirty-five hours by train to come to the meeting. They belonged to different Churches: Catholic and Protestant, and also to the official and underground Churches. It was an extraordinary experience of unity: the risen Christ really pushes us to overcome the frontiers between Churches and between peoples. At every stage of the pilgrimage, as in the meetings of young people in Taizé, we seek, through prayer, reflection and sharing, to go to the sources of joy. At a time when our world is shaken by violent events, we often struggle to maintain joy. Is joy an appropriate attitude when so many people are suffering and ecological threats become dramatic?

Hence for the Prior the need to start again from the heart of faith, because the joy transmitted by the Gospel comes from the trust that we are loved by God. “Joy is not an overestimated feeling, nor an individualistic happiness that leads to isolation, but the serene certainty that life has meaning. Far from an exaltation that escapes problems, it makes us even more sensitive to the hardships of others. It is stronger than the fear of instability, of the unknown, of the stranger. An inner joy does not diminish solidarity with others, it nourishes it,” Alois added. Inviting us not to fear challenges, including those related to the growing gap between rich and poor: “If our communities, our parishes, our groups, become more and more places where we welcome each other, where we try to understand and support the other, places where we are attentive to the weakest, to those who are poorer than us ... “. Finally, I greet the many Brescians present: “I am leaving for Rome to participate in the Synod on Youth and on 14 October there will be the canonization of Paul VI. I am happy to pass through Brescia today and to express the gratitude of our community for this Pope who was close to us and whom we loved...”.